


Childhood

by xploded_tb



Category: Thor (Movies)
Genre: Childhood, First Kiss, Fluff, Loki is shy, M/M, Mentions of Odin, Pre-Thor (2011), Thor Is Protective, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, baby Loki, my favorite aspects of a pre-thorki fic, yes this is kinda pre-thorki
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-04
Updated: 2020-03-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:41:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23015695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xploded_tb/pseuds/xploded_tb
Summary: Thor looks at the strange bundle and asks, “What’s that, mama?”中文版(Chinese translation)
Relationships: Loki/Thor (Marvel)
Comments: 22
Kudos: 179





	Childhood

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I haven't written anything in a long while, and I hope this satisfies! (?) I haven't beta'd this, so please be warned. I'm again a little crappy in terms of writing, much worse than before, I feel? But practice makes better, so I hope to start writing again!
> 
> (Kinda) written for #thorkiweek on twitter! Thanks to rai & elsa for kickin' it off!
> 
> EDIT: [點擊閲讀中文版](https://wobeiniansha.lofter.com/post/31583894_1c84a1e85) (Chinese translation)

Thor sits by the large, open window in his mother’s room as he gazes out into the magnificent garden that Frigga tends to herself. He takes in a deep breath, inhaling the crisp morning air as it had rained just the earlier on. He always liked when it rained the night before. It makes the air so much fresher and wonderful.

With his toys abandoned on the floor, he is sitting with his feet dangling off the chair, moving side to side. He is feeling restless as he waits for his mother to return.

Just an hour ago, she had been weaving a new tapestry. And he, fascinated by the way she used her magic, paused playing his toys as he watched. Splashes of green and blue and wisps of white danced around the room, making it the most amazing light show Thor had ever witnessed.

But she was interrupted when there was a knock on her door from one of the guards. She had made her way over, and almost immediately, her smile was replaced by the furrow of her brows and the pursing of her lips.

Thor knew that such an expression is only reserved for two occasions: when she really needs to talk to the All-father, or whenever she helps to train the shield maidens.

She turned to Thor and smiled gently, saying that she would be back soon and shut the door.

So Thor simply went back to playing with his toys until he became bored. And he is now sitting in the chair by the window, occasionally turning over to the door to see if it would open any time soon.

And sure enough, the door creaks open.

Excited, he promptly hops off the chair and dashes to his mother.

Then he notices it.

In her arms is a small thing, bundled up in white cloth. He can’t quite see what it is, however. But his mother is wearing a soft expression and looking lovingly at it.

He looks at the strange bundle and asks, “What’s that, mama?”

Frigga only smiles at Thor as she moves to sit down in the chair Thor was in earlier. She lowers the bundle into her lap as Thor drags a nearby chair over to his mother. He hoists himself up, sitting and finally getting to see what’s inside the bundle.

In it is a small, little babe with a tiny tuft of black hair. It seems to be sleeping very peacefully, with a tiny bit of drool on the side of its mouth.

He turns to his mother and back at the babe again.

Then he finally asks, “Is that my brother?”

Frigga turns to Thor and smiles warmly. “Yes, he’s your brother, Thor. His name is Loki.”

Thor turns to look at the sleeping babe again. He sees the plump cheeks, the little hands on top of the blanket covering little Loki, and the slight dribble of drool. He looks at his mother again, who is smiling so warmly down at Loki.

“He’s adorable, isn’t he?”

He finds doesn’t really feel that kind of emotions his mother does. It’s just a baby, after all.

Nevertheless, he wants to know more about little Loki.

“Can I carry him, mama?”

“Of course you can, dear.” She carefully lifts Loki from her lap, and places him on Thor’s lap, teaching him how to hold the babe and where to put his hands. “Just be gentle.”

Thor wraps his arms around the babe. Then, he gently rocks Loki from side to side, imitating from memory what he had seen his mother do on occasions when holding someone else’s child.

The babe makes a noise, and slowly opens his eyes.

Thor sees that there is a pair of beautiful, bright green eyes that are looking right back at him, as if already assessing Thor. Then, Loki blinks once and babbles. That gets Thor smiling, and he doesn’t know why.

He frees a hand and moves to gently hold Loki’s tiny little hand with just his index finger and thumb, feeling the very soft flesh between. Loki seems so brittle that Thor is a little scared of holding him a little too hard.

Then, the babe babbles again, responding by gripping Thor’s thumb firmly with his tiny hand and breaks into a toothless smile at Thor.

Thor’s heart melts while Frigga coos at the sight.

Loki is _adorable_.

_xxxxx_

In the few months that follow, Thor is the designated, unofficial second caretaker of Loki. Whenever their mother is going to be busy with her duties, he helps by entertaining his little brother.

It’s an odd feeling, but he can feel the connection with the little babe. Whenever he feels happy, Loki would reflect the same feelings back to him with smiles, and often times even just gargling his food back out.

Likewise, whenever he happened to be a little gloomier, he sees Loki reaching for him with those tiny hands, as if trying to comfort him.

And even though Thor has overheard palace maids talk about how awful siblings are, or about how noisy babies get, he finds Loki a blessing and a joy to be with.

He is glad he has a sibling.

_xxxxx_

Loki’s very first word is—much to Frigga’s dismay—‘Thor’. And Thor couldn’t be happier about it.

_xxxxx_

Asgard is, by nature, a nation that enjoys a good celebration.

They throw a grand party for Loki when he turns one year old, much like they did for Thor when he also just turned a year old.

He is placed in light green bassinet; its patterns weaved from Frigga’s own hand. Like tradition requires, guests are to get close to the bassinet and give their blessings. The guests are, without a doubt, happy to shower their blessings as this is a chance to see the second prince of Asgard.

The noise, however, seems to be too much for little Loki as he begins to wail. And Frigga notices that the wailing is much louder than his usual crying.

Just as she gets up from her seat to move to comfort Loki, she sees it—thin wisps of white that are wrapping around the bassinet. Wisps of energy that only seidr users are familiar with.

And in that moment she senses it, clear as day, that this babe is a powerful one. One that is independent, bright and may not need her help after all.

So instead, she casts a weak barrier before her and braces herself for the impact.

The guests closest to the bassinet are thrown back, landing on their behinds. The nearby tables laden with food are all shoved into disarray by the sheer force of it as the glass windows shatter.

Silence envelops the hall and Frigga drops her shield, barely managing to contain her smile. She _felt_ the hit.

She then turns to address the guests.

“My utmost apologies, but I am afraid Prince Loki will have to retire for now. But, please! Do carry on with the party.”

She bends to pick Loki up gently, who is sound asleep, likely because he had used up his energy by releasing the shockwave.

The first time Frigga had felt the same pride was recent, when Thor had managed to display immense strength by budging a rock.

And this would mark the second time she feels the same pride that she experienced with Thor.

She holds Loki just a little tighter, chest swelling with immense pride.

_xxxxx_

Thor really enjoys reading to his baby brother. He especially loves to read _Solveig’s Journey Into the Great Woods_. Thor loves stories about adventures, and he loves sharing anything and everything with Loki. Even if his little brother is only just over a year old, he has heard from their mother that reading will be great for Loki’s development.

So as the older one, he knows he has to help his mother out with this.

And Thor thinks that perhaps one day, they can both set off on a journey of their own.

Having that thought in his mind, he continues to read the rest of the story to Loki, making a mental note to ask their mother for another to read during their story time together.

_xxxxx_

Perhaps Thor’s story time sessions with Loki have had a great effect on the younger of the two. The second prince’s vocabulary has grown significantly in the past few years.

He has also just started enrolling in courses with personal tutors within the palace and has been praised by them all to be extremely bright for his age.

Thor, too, has made tremendous progress in his warrior training and is much stronger than before.

The two of them can often be seen running together hand-in-hand all around the palace when they are not having classes. At times, they sit by Frigga’s gardens and would share with each other just about anything under the sun.

Maids have also noticed that sometimes the two of them would sneak into the kitchen at night for a little snack of whatever they could find. The young princes think they are not noticed, but it is an open secret between the maids, so they pretend not to notice. Whenever there are excess ingredients, they would sometimes prepare extras of their princes’ favorite snacks, for they adore the princes.

The two are a bundle of joy in the palace, and everybody knows it.

_xxxxx_

It is late at night when Thor sees the flashes of lighting outside in the dark skies and hears the distant rumbling of the thunder.

It rains often in Asgard, but never quite this heavy for a very long time. He wonders if perhaps the Norns are angry.

Then he hears the light thud of footsteps approaching his bed.

It’s his little brother with a pillow clutched in his arms.

And Thor has never seen Loki so frightened before.

“What’s wrong, brother?” Thor asks, getting quite worried. Is Loki hurt in any way?

“Um…”

It seems like an answer isn’t quite possible. He can see Loki visibly shaking.

He lifts his blanket and pats the bed, inviting Loki to join him.

They both have their own chambers, but their rooms had always been connected so they can easily play with one another. And Thor is glad their parents let them have this arrangement.

Thor shifts over more as Loki climbs onto the bed, and they both huddle together under the covers—Thor wrapping his arm around Loki and Loki pressing his face against his brother’s chest.

They are silent for a while—save for the pitter-patter outside the windows—until a loud snap of thunder sounds, causing Loki to flinch and huddle closer to Thor.

“You’re scared of thunder?”

Loki nods slowly, seemingly embarrassed about the fear.

“And I...did badly for magic training lessons this afternoon.”

“Did mother scold you?”

Loki shakes his head. “No. But I could not conjure a basic shape for my illusion.”

Thor frowns at this. He knows Loki is powerful. He remembers asking his mother about Loki’s party about the blast of energy. She had said it was Loki.

He smiles, and releases Loki to look at his brother in the eyes.

“You can do it, Loki! I believe you can!”

Loki frowns at this, tone full of uncertainty. “But… What if I can’t?”

“Mother said you’ve used your powers before, so I know you can do it again. And besides, we can fight together in the future. You can use magic, and I will use my strength.”

He smiles, hoping that this will at least ease Loki and help him sleep.

Slowly, the crease on his little brother’s eyebrows disappears, and Loki nods.

“Trust me, brother. You’ll be fine,” reassures Thor as he holds Loki tighter.

It’s this exact moment that Thor wills control for his powers soon, so he can calm the skies for Loki.

_xxxxx_

Exhausted from his training, Thor wipes the sweat off his face with his towel as he rushes back to his chambers for a bath.

He’s promised Loki that they would both go off tonight to gather a few herbs that Loki needs at a nearby field just outside of their city.

Thor is, in fact, really happy that Loki has asked him to go together to do something.

Lately, they have both been more involved in their respective lessons and, as a result, have been spending less time together. Their father had sat them down not too long ago to talk about Asgard, and kingship. He already had their lessons planned out for them some time ago. Loki would take more seidr lessons with their mother and other instructors, while Thor would focus on his strength and weapon training. For the most part where they would meet, it would be during the common lessons they share on language, literature, math and military tactics.

But lessons are lessons. They don’t play or communicate much during lessons. Besides, their instructors are fairly strict. (That hasn’t stopped a few pranks from happening, which usually gets them an earful from their instructors and parents.)

This makes Thor always look forward to the evenings, where he can spend time with his brother again. Sure, he has made quite a lot of friends along the way, but none of them really provide him the same kind of wit and comfort his brother can provide.

He’s constantly amazed at how Loki is so good with learning and studies. Sometimes, he gets a little jealous at how good Loki is. Especially seidr, as he doesn’t possess the ability to manipulate magic like Loki does, he’s sometimes envious of Loki’s abilities. He’s asked Loki to show him some magic, but his little brother always blushes and shakes his head and tries to change the topic.

He finds the response strange but endearing all the same.

Smiling to himself, he strips down and takes a quick bath, first rinsing himself clean then going in for a good soak to relax his muscles.

He wonders about what will happen when the both of them grow up. Eventually, they will have to rule Asgard together. Thor certainly hopes that is the case, since they’re brothers. That is the only way.

Perhaps they can rule together like the All-father and All-mother, supporting each other side by side. Thor finds that this idea is brilliant, and hopes that Loki thinks the same.

As he is about to leave the bath, he hears his room door open and footsteps thudding outside.

Then, he hears a knock on his bathroom door.

“Thor?”

“I’m getting ready now. We can go!” Thor replies as he gets up from the bath and dries himself.

He changes into a fresh set of breaches and shirt. He leaves the bathroom, feeling fresh and rejuvenated.

Loki is sitting on the bed, reading a copy of _The Masters of Seidr_.

“I’m ready, brother. Where shall we head off to?”

Loki looks up from his book and smiles. “Come with me. It’ll be a quick one, and we can come back for a light dinner before turning in.”

Thor nods, and he follows Loki.

_xxxxx_

Thor watches Loki gather the last of his herbs as he puts them into his bag. Then he joins Thor, who is lying on his back in the grass and gazing at the skies of Asgard.

Bright, shining spots paint the calm Asgard skies as a gentle breeze rolls over the both of them, relaxed and lying in the grass. Moments like these that are silent and comfortable are harder to come by now, due to their increasingly hectic life with lessons and time apart.

“Brother,” starts Loki as he sits up.

“What is it?” Thor asks and follows Loki, sitting up as well. Loki seems to be hesitating again. “You can tell me anything, you know.”

“Actually, I want to show you something.”

Thor nods, wondering what it is Loki wishes to show him.

Then Loki closes his eyes and Thor blinks as he waits, looking around for whatever Loki said he would show him.

And then, he sees it.

Around them, a warm glow of light envelops them.

“Fireflies…” Thor breathes as he revels in the sight all around him.

The unmistakable glow of yellow surrounds them, dancing in joy as they float through the air, carefree and unbothered. Thor reaches out to one near him as he tries to hold it in his palms, but realizes that as soon as he touches the firefly, it dissipates into nothing.

Then he realizes—it’s Loki’s illusion.

He turns back to Loki and says, “Is this what you’ve always wanted to show me?”

Loki nods, seemingly still looking uncertain.

“Magnificent, Loki! I can’t believe you’ve never shown me this before!” Thor all but exclaims, feeling proud and happy that he has finally seen Loki’s magic in such a majestic display.

“I wasn’t sure if you’d really like it.”

Loki’s eyes are still downcast.

“Why?”

Loki fidgets before replying, “Well, a few of your friends didn’t seem to really like it. They thought it was boring and not practical.”

Thor frowns at this, instantly angry that his friends would say such awful things about his brother.

He places his hands on Loki’s shoulders and looks him straight in the eyes. “Listen Loki, it doesn’t matter what they say. What you did was beautiful! And I’m sure it will help all of us in the future. Perhaps even save us from deadly situations.”

Loki bites his bottom lip.

“Really?”

“Certainly!” Thor drops his hands to hold Loki’s in reassurance. “We will have to go on adventures together! I will need you, and you will need me. And if we rule Asgard together, we will need each other too. Just like father and mother.”

Thor is still fuming that he had no idea that someone has said such awful things to Loki. He doesn’t want to know if anyone else has said anything to Loki. If they have, then they won’t be friends with Thor Odinson. The one thing he can do is to be there for Loki more and make sure his brother doesn’t get hurt. This, he silently promises himself.

And finally, Loki smiles and nods.

“Do you promise?” Loki asks, gripping Thor’s hands just a little tighter.

“I promise.” Thor, too, holds Loki’s tighter.

Then, they break into wide smiles and giggle together, problems blown away just like that.

With their hands still interlocked, Loki closes his eyes again and once again conjures the beautiful fireflies, this time with the fireflies dancing closer around them. Rhythmic and beautiful, just like a piece of art.

And in this moment, something takes over Thor. The ethereal beauty of it all is causing his heart to beat just a little faster, the flutter in his tummy making him just a little nervous.

Before him is Loki, with a slight smile on his relaxed face. He is beautiful. Although, besides beauty, Thor finds he cannot describe his feelings. He cannot say anything but gaze at his brother before him.

Then, he closes his eyes and leans forward to kiss Loki on the lips—a quick and chaste kiss.

Opening his eyes, he sees that Loki is blinking in surprise, seemingly trying to process what Thor just did.

Thor takes a deep breath and asks, “Loki, you’ll rule Asgard with me, right?”

He doesn’t know exactly where the kiss came from. He just thought he _should_. After all, if Loki were to rule Asgard with him together, they have to be married, right?

He hopes Loki will say yes.

Blushing, Loki nods, looking shyly back at Thor.

Smiling, they both lean forward, forehead to forehead as they enjoy the evening breeze and each other’s company.

And Thor knows the both of them will be all right.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Feel free to yell at me at my [twitter](https://twitter.com/xploded_tb)~


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